Wilkinson, S (1993) Entry to employment: Choices made by qualified women civil engineers leaving higher education. PhD thesis, Oxford Brookes University, UK.
Abstract
The subject of this thesis is the career choice of final year women civil engineering students. Though a considerable body of general literature exists on women in the labour market, including women in engineering and women in construction, there is a lack of knowledge about women in civil engineering specifically. Present attitudes are largely based on unproven assumptions unsupported by empirical data. By examining the career choice of the group, the aims of the thesis were to examine the factors affecting career choice of women civil engineers; to extend the knowledge base and to test some of the current thinking about women in engineering and construction. Four objectives were formulated. These concerned the initial reasons for the career choice, differences in male and female choices, whether there is a relationship between college experiences and career choice and whether there is a relationship between career expectations and career choice. These objectives were explored in a comprehensive literature review, and in an extensive series of interviews followed by a national survey of all final year women civil engineering students and an equivalent number of final year male civil engineering students. The data was analyzed by testing a number of hypotheses for each of the four objectives using advanced statistical techniques. The results of the study showed that there were a very large number of complex factors involved in women's career choice. Of particular interest were the differences in the career choices of male and female civil engineering students, that some college experiences of women were related to career choice and that generally the beliefs women had of a career in civil engineering did not appear to be related to their choice of sector of civil engineering. The thesis, in its original research, has clearly made an important contribution to the study of women in civil engineering and there is ample scope for future research projects to build on this original research. These findings have important implications for career advisors, teachers, lecturers in higher education as well as employers in the construction industry.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | women in construction; education; higher education; market; women; civil engineering; labour market; civil engineer; employer; interview |
| Index terms: | testing, construction industry, women, labour market, employment, higher education, national survey, career, literature review, civil engineer, interview, knowledge base |
| Subjects: | research products and data, professional practice, data analysis and analytics, data collection methods, profession, educational institutions, sociology, industry analysis, information systems, management, economics, professional development |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Information Management, Education, Digital Applications, Human Resources, Supply Chain Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here